Diction Lesson 3

1. Diction Lesson 3 • “Troublesome” Terms

2. Synecdoche • (sih-NECK-duh-kee) • figure of speech in which a part stands for the whole • “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.” (Winston Churchill, 1940) • “In Europe, we gave the cold shoulder to De Gaulle, and now he gives the warm hand to Mao Tse-tung.” (Richard Nixon, 1960) • The ship was lost with all hands. • His parents bought him a new set of wheels. • He has many mouths to feed.

3. Effect • Add variation, elegance, and present the language “luxuriously.” • Often used to characterize and control imagery • Note: synecdoche can be understood to be a form of metonymy, but the converse is not true. • The difference between metonymy and synecdoche is that in metonymy, the term you are using is linked to the thing that you mean, but is not directly a part of it.

4. Metonymy • (me-TON-y-my) • substitution of some attributive or suggestive word for what is actually meant. • The British crown has been plagued by scandal. • The pen is mightier than the sword. • 'He is a man of cloth' • The suits were at meeting.

5. Effect • Note: Metonymy develops relation on the grounds of close associations- as in “The White House is concerned about terrorism.” The White House here represents the people who work in it. • Used in developing literary symbolism • Helps achieve conciseness • Add a poetic color to words

6. Litotes • (LI-tuh-tees OR lie-TOE-tees) • deliberate use of understatement • “Last week I saw a woman flayed, and you will hardly believe how much it altered her appearance for the worse.” (Jonathan Swift, A Tale of a Tub) • “It isn’t very serious. I have this tiny little tumor on the brain.” (Catcher in the Rye) • “For four generations we’ve been making medicines as if people’s lives depended on them.” (Ad for Eli Lilly Drug Company)

7. Effect • Depending on the tone and context of the usage, litotes either retain the effect of understatement, or become an intensifying expression • Often create irony

8. Conceit • A fanciful expression, usually in the form of an extended metaphor or surprising analogy between seemingly dissimilar objects. • Usually used in poetry. • Effect: A conceit displays intellectual cleverness as a result of the unusual comparison being made. • Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?/Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” • "All the world's a stage, The men and women merely players; They have their exits and entrances." - "As You Like It" by William Shakespeare

9. Colloquialism • The use of slang or informalities in speech or writing. • Not generally acceptable for formal writing, colloquialisms give a work a conversational, familiar tone. • Colloquial expressions in writing include local or regional dialects. • I lay down last night . . . tried to take my rest, My mind got to ramblin', like a wild geese in the west. --Skip James, "Devil Got My Woman," 1931

10. Euphemism • From the Greek for “good speech.” • More agreeable or less offensive substitutes for generally unpleasant words or concepts. • Effect: Used to adhere to standards of social or political correctness or to add humor or ironic understatement. • Saying “earthly remains” rather than “corpse” • “Passed away” • “Between jobs” for unemployed